Time For Heroes
by Heroes Can Save You
Summary: Naruto had known he had hated Sasuke from the moment he laid eyes in him. Okay, so perhaps not that exact moment, but it couldn't have been long after - perhaps it had been when the bastard had opened his mouth and brutally dissected Naruto, his music and his band. Yeah, that had probably been it. So why is he kissing him all the time? NaruxSasuxNaru AU
1. Prologue

**Time for Heroes**

**By Heroes Can Save You**

_**A Naruto x Sasuke (x Naruto) AU story.**_

_**Rated M. This story will contain drinking, smoking, rock and roll, bad language, drug references and use, references to England and British things and sexual situations. **_

_**I do not own Naruto, or the songs mentioned in this story. **_

**Prologue**

Naruto had known he had hated Sasuke from the moment he laid eyes in him. Okay, so perhaps not that exact moment, but it couldn't have been long after - perhaps it had been when the bastard had opened his mouth and brutally dissected Naruto, his music and his band. Yeah, that had probably been it.

Naruto, Gaara and Sakura had just finished their set - a damn good set in Naruto's opinion - at what was The Whirlpools first live gig. They had played a handful of their own songs and then had a performed (what everyone had assured Naruto) a version of 'That's Entertainment' by The Jam that was every bit as good as the original. While Naruto would admit it hadn't been perfect, for the bands first proper gig – he felt that it had been pretty successful. The audience was filled with friends, acquaintances and people unfortunate enough to be in the London pub that afternoon and they had been cheering and dancing enthusiastically and as the band climbed down from the stage Naruto felt on top of the world. He gratefully accepted the drink Kiba was holding out for him and began to discuss the performance loudly with his friend. Kiba had thrown his arm around his shoulder and Shikamaru was there, and awake, which was the most praise he could get from his lazy friend when Naruto spied Sakura talking away to a dark haired man Naruto had never seen before. A very attractive dark haired man who made even the 'confident in his love for Sakura' Naruto give him a once over. Still, he had to save Sakura from him, even though Naruto had agreed to let up on the love declarations now Sakura was in the band, he couldn't let her be taken away right in front of his eyes. He detached himself from Kiba and wandered over, smiling as Sakura grabbed his arm and pulled him to stand beside her.

"Naruto! This is Sasuke, we were just talking about the gig," Sakura introduced them.

Sasuke turned to look at him, but didn't say anything. Naruto grinned despite Sasuke's cold attitude. Nothing could bring him down, not even antisocial bastards.

"You enjoy it?" Naruto asked brightly. Sasuke turned so he was facing them in profile now, leaning against the bar and slowly lit a cigarette as he contemplated an answer.

"You need another guitar player, you aren't good enough to sing and play lead guitar at the same time and it threw the band off rhythm sometimes. You're songs are okay - sometimes you even have an okay tune in there but some of your lyrics are terrible. Like only a true moron could write. I'm not sure what sound you were going for, and I don't think you know. But with more practice, someone else writing your songs and another guitarist one day you might be actually able to listen to you and not want to cut your own ears off." Sasuke finished, smirking at the look of shock on the pink haired girls face and the anger and contempt on the blondes.

Okay, Sasuke thought, so perhaps he had been a little harsh - the songs hadn't been terrible - in fact he'd been impressed by one or two, but there was something about the blonde and his happy, smiling face that just irritated Sasuke.

A feeling the blonde apparently shared if the fist he had thrown at Sasuke's face was any indication.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled as Sasuke stumbled back, grabbing the edge of the bar for support.

"Moron, that didn't even hurt," Sasuke goaded, preparing to throw himself at the other, but Sakura stepped between them.

"Stop it. Naruto, we have talked about your temper before! And god knows we are always saying how we get no constructive criticism as a band and you go and punch the first person that gives us any? Sasuke if you think you can help us get better, come along to one of our rehearsals. Put your money where your mouth is." Sakura proposed, despite Naruto's indignant squeaks in the background. Sasuke was quiet for a moment before he stubbed out his cigarette and turned to the barman ignoring the stares from most of the bar.

"You got a pen?" He asked, the barman nodded and handed it to Sasuke who felt around in his pockets for a scrap of paper. He pulled out an old bus ticket and scribbled his number down before handing it to Sakura. "Don't call on Wednesdays," he warned her before downing the last of his whiskey and walking from the bar.

Conversation began to return now that there was no longer the prospect of a fight and Sakura stared wide-eyed at the number on the paper.

"I got his phone number," she murmured to herself as Gaara and their other friends gathered to see what had set Naruto off. "The hottest guy alive and I have his number,"

Naruto snatched the paper from her hands and waved it angrily in her face.

"I should burn it! What the hell Sakura? The pompous dick stood there and insulted us and you go asking him to come watch us?" Naruto fumed, stomping his foot on the ground as Kiba handed him a beer and nodded in support.

"You are such a drama queen - and don't you dare rip that up!" Sakura yelled, punching Naruto in the stomach, causing him to cough and double over. "Everything he said we know! But none of our friends are going to give us an honest musical opinion like that are they? Look we aren't asking him to join the band - it's just for his opinion Naruto. Besides, have you seen his face?"

Gaara nodded in agreement and after Naruto stopped howling in betrayal, he finally consented to get an outsider's honest opinion on the band and their music - on the condition Sasuke did not join the band.

Three weeks later, Sasuke was in the band.

* * *

**_Inspiration for this story comes from the band The Libertines – which has two lead singers who are a fangirls dream. So this is the introduction – much more to come!_**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"If you could just remind me at what point we declared you our leader Sasuke?" Naruto hissed, kicking the microphone stand over as Sasuke fiddled with an amp in the dingy rehearsal room.

"I think it was probably about the time I started pulling in gigs that actually paid us and when I started writing songs people actually like to listen to," Sasuke announced coolly, not looking up from what he was doing. Naruto growled and Sasuke did turn then, to cast disinterested eyes over his band mate.

"You prick, we write those songs together and you fucking know it!" Naruto yelled, glaring at the dark haired man.

Gaara stepped forward then, placing a calming hand on Naruto's shoulder as Sakura dropped her head to rest on the drum set in front of her as yet another argument on 'who was the better song writer' looked set to begin.

"We only have the rehearsal space for another hour, and like it or not, we now have a big gig supporting Sound next week so need all the rehearsal time we can get," Gaara calmly informed Naruto, who continued to glare at Sasuke even as he reluctantly consented to let the argument go.

He wrapped his arms around Gaara and sniffed dramatically, resting his head on the other mans shoulder.

"I would kill him if it wasn't for you," He murmured and Gaara just stood quietly, socially awkward enough to still be unsure at what to do with this kind of interaction, and in moments a smile was back on Naruto's face, as he poked fun at his inept friend.

Sasuke watched the exchange quietly as he fiddled with his guitar, feeling strangely irked at their conversation. He shook it off – he was just annoyed at Naruto in general, not Naruto's touchy feely relationship with Gaara. The blonde really had the ability to get under his skin but Sasuke had to admit, that Naruto was really quite talented when it came to writing songs – with an ability to pick up and add to a tune annoyingly fast. He seemed to know exactly what parts should be added to a song to give it a certain sound – and while sometimes his lyrical ability was lacking – that was the area in which Sasuke really picked up the slack. He had to admit, the two of them did work well together – even if they did spend half their time competing with one another.

Sasuke had been a member of the band for four months now, and in that time had completely re-written every song the band had, and had produced a few new ones. He had also begun to get paying gigs, using his connections from his job at an indie record store to get bigger and better venues – even some support jobs for some big local bands and they had even done a small tour across southern England with one band.

Naruto had begrudgingly agreed, after hours of convincing by Sakura, that both he and Sasuke should sing in the band and while this had led to a few hairy situations (one time they had physically fought on stage because Sasuke claimed Naruto had sung the wrong words) most people who saw them perform had told them it was a winning combination.

Naruto picked up the microphone stand and let Sakura tap them in, trying not to look at the dark haired man next to him, who had waltzed in and stolen his band and started getting them the kind of gigs that Naruto could only dream off. He huffed, closing his eyes and just letting the tune flow over him, the energy and beat of the song pounding into him and then began to sing – hearing Sasuke's voice rise up and meet his own.

As much as he hated to admit it Sasuke was talented, and had helped him to write some brilliant songs, that had captured exactly the sound and tone Naruto had imagined in his head when he had first envisioned his band. They complemented one another; each encompassing strengths that the other one lacked and their rivalry pushed them to work harder and harder. Sakura told him it was just that they didn't understand each other that they fought, but Naruto wasn't sure. He understood Sasuke fine, it was just that the other was a cold, antisocial prick.

The rehearsal finished without another incident, although Sakura and Gaara were keeping tight control on the situation and when they took a break, they were careful to keep the two boys out of the same room. The difficulty came, however, when it came time for Sakura to drive them all home, but she found the two boys were still being alarmingly civil.

"So," she approached the topic tentatively as she struggled her way through the heavy London traffic. "Do you really think there will be record company guys at this Sound gig?"

Naruto snorted from the front seat.

"What a stupid band name," he muttered, rifling through the glove box for a CD. Sasuke made a noise from the back seat that sounded suspiciously like he was agreeing with Naruto.

"Tell me about it. I mean I'm not too thrilled with keeping The Whirlpools but Sound is a million times worse,"

Naruto turned suddenly staring back at Sasuke with an intensity that made Sasuke want to squirm.

"I told you. We don't change the name," Naruto growled, and Sasuke tilted his head, it what could be seen as agreement. Naruto, apparently appeased by the gesture turned back to his task, though why that movement had pleased him neither Sakura nor Gaara were sure.

"It's probably lucky for us that they sound as terrible as their name, from what Neiji was saying a record company is coming just to hear us," Sasuke continued on as if Naruto's interruption had never happened, wincing as Sakura peeled off into the left hand lane without indicating.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the movement, but didn't comment – knowing better than to mention Sakura's less than perfect driving to the woman herself. He had made that mistake before and found himself dumped unceremoniously on the road and informed he could walk home himself. They had been two hours from home at the time. Sasuke had smirked about the incident for weeks.

The rest of the car ride was filled with arguments about what music to listen to and nervous questions about the upcoming gig, and soon they were pulling up near the Soho flat that Naruto lived in with his eccentric godfather. Below the flat was the brightly lit 'adult goods' shop that his godfather owned, and that Naruto worked in when he wasn't playing with the band.

"Are you working tonight?" Sakura asked, as Naruto climbed out of the car. He scratched his cheek, bending down to talk to the group through the open car door, ignoring that Sakura had pulled up on a doubled yellow lined road.

"Ah yeah, promised to mind it for the old man while he is out wooing young ladies. I'll swing by your place to talk about some kind of set list when we close up though?"

"Why do sex shops even need to be open so late?" Sasuke wondered, peering suspiciously at the building behind Naruto.

"Sasuke, who are we to dictate at what time of day people can or cannot buy butt plugs? Sexual deviancy waits for no man!" Naruto cried, slamming the car door shut dramatically as he grinned at them through the window. Sakura pulled a face, but Sasuke found himself smirking back at the grinning blonde.

Naruto turned and ducked across the road, his leather jacket collar turned up against the wind and his perfect ass clearly visible through his tight jeans. Not that Sasuke was looking.

* * *

Sooner than they had thought possible the night of the concert rolled around and fifteen minutes before their appointed set time found Naruto and Sasuke sat outside the venue on a low wall sharing their third cigarette and anxiously passing a bottle of vodka between them. They had only been able to stump up enough cash for one bottle and one packet between the two of them, even after tipping all of their pennies onto the counter of the corner shop. Deciding that if they tried to split it all evenly half and half they would inevitably ending up arguing, they decided this method of dividing the spoils worked much better.

They sat in silence, staring out at the dingy wall of the alleyway and waited for Sakura to complete her pre-gig mantra in the tiny cupboard they had been given as a backstage area. Naruto was jiggling his leg and Sasuke found himself reaching out and placing his hand on Naruto's jean clad thigh to try and stop the irritating movement. They both stilled, Naruto's eyes falling on the hand on his leg, the warm weight of which he could feel through the material of his trousers. His eyes slid up the arm to Sasuke's face to find he was staring at his hand as well, as if it had moved without his permission.

Naruto wasn't sure if it was his nerves, but he felt a sudden desire to move the hand higher up his leg and see what it would feel like pressed against a different area.

The door swung open behind them and in an instant the hand and the thought was gone.

"That's time, guys." A roadie announced and Sasuke nodded, taking a final swig of vodka and grinding the cigarette out on the wall next to him. Naruto jumped down and turned to look back up at Sasuke, a huge grin on his face. Sasuke though it might be the first time Naruto had ever looked at him like that, and found he was offering a small smile in return, his heart pounding.

"All right, lets do this thing!" Naruto laughed and held out a fist up at Sasuke. Sasuke jumped down from the wall, and brushed past the hand.

"Like hell am I going to fist bump you, moron," Sasuke told him and Naruto pouted behind him, his hands going up behind the back of his head and revealing a thin strip of tanned skin from beneath his white t-shirt.

"Bastard," Naruto muttered, but there was a smile on his face and for the first time Sasuke didn't really feel like it was an insult.

The performance passed without incident and Naruto felt like he was on top of the world as he stumbled down off the stage and into the backstage area. Sakura was practically bouncing around the hallway, waving her drumsticks in Naruto's face and even Gaara had a small smile on his face. Naruto had slung an arm around Sasuke's shoulders and the weight of it was warm and comforting.

"So what do we do now?" Sakura asked breathlessly and took a swig from the vodka bottle Naruto offered her.

"I don't really know," Sasuke admitted, wiping his face with his t-shirt. "Go out and mingle I guess," he murmured, remembering all the faces that were staring back at him during their set. At the time he hadn't paid much attention to them, too caught up in his on stage battle with Naruto, but now he found himself trying to remember peoples face to see if any of them could have looked like they were from a record company.

"All right!" Naruto cried, releasing Sasuke and tugging his white t-shirt off and pulling an identical one on from his bag.

A few minutes later and the four of them stood self-consciously at the venue bar, gratefully accepting a free drink from an excitable fan. Sound had started up now, screeching some god awful noise about bringing down the government and Naruto pulled a face, hoping their own music would not be tarnished with the association to Sound's attempt at a punk revival.

"Well," Naruto announced, as he slammed his empty glass down on the bar. "I'm off for a post performance slash,"

He wandered off, ignoring Sasuke's revolted face and Sakura's tutting at such a statement and squeezed his way through the mass of moving bodies to a cooler, quieter corridor where the toilets were. He held the door open for a strange looking silver haired man who was walking behind him and wandered down the corridor, dodging the haggard figures dotting the floor.

He pushed through the throng of people all slipping into cubicles, no doubt to snort drugs in the privacy of their own stall, and quickly made his way to the urinals, smiling and nodding at the affectionate fans he encountered on his way. He rinsed his hands in the only sink that was not broken, and squeezed his way back out. The silver haired man stood directly in front of the toilet door and Naruto took a step back in surprise as the man raised a hand and waved at him, smiling. Or at least Naruto assumed he was smiling beneath the surgical mask he was wearing, he may just have been narrowing his eyes at him.

"I've been looking for you," the man told him and Naruto stepped from the doorway to the side, but tried to keep some distance between him and the strange man.

"Have you indeed?" Naruto asked, squeezing past a couple that was happily humping each other on the wall of the dirty corridor.

Naruto eyed the man suspiciously, wondering whether he was safe to talk to.

"I enjoyed your songs, they were good. Like The Clash mixed with The Strokes, a good sound. And you and your band mate, you have some good chemistry. The two of you up there is really quite something to watch," the man told him, following Naruto as he made his way towards the door, the music growing louder with each step.

"Thanks, and look mate that's nice of you but really, you go home and think about that chemistry all you want yeah," Naruto told him, his hand on the door handle. The man laughed, the sound muffled beneath the mask, and he reached into his pocket, the other hand stopping Naruto from opening the door.

Naruto first thought was that the man was a crazy fan, and had some kind of weapon in his pocket, so when he pulled out a white rectangle of paper Naruto automatically knocked it to the floor. The silver haired man raised his eyebrows and picked up the card, handing it back to Naruto with another strange muffled laugh.

As Naruto read the name and details on the card he realized why the man was laughing quite so much.

Naruto found himself sitting in the same alleyway he had been in with Sasuke earlier that afternoon, except this time he was sat with Kakashi Hatake from Konoha Records – one of the best indie labels in England, who was telling him he was interested in the band. Naruto tried not to just sit and stare open mouthed at the man, but often found himself struggling. Now they were out in the light, Naruto could see that the man wasn't in anyway old enough to have a full head of silver hair, so he came to the conclusion he had gone grey very young or coloured it that way to be eccentric. Kakashi had also explained about the mask, apologizing if it seemed odd, but informed him he had grown up in East Asia – and that such things were common when someone was unwell. Naruto had apologized for his remarks, but Kakashi had simply laughed them off.

"You're a rock star – you need a bit of attitude," Kakashi had told him, his eyes twinkling. "Look, go back, chat it over with your band and when you want – give me a call. I'll write my mobile number on the back so you can always contact me. Then we will get you in to play for some people at the company and see where we can go. I like you, I think you will do well."

Naruto had just nodded dumbly before promising to call Kakashi no matter what happened. The man had just smiled that strange little eye smile again and left Naruto staring at the white square in his hand.

He jumped of the wall, rushing in towards the dressing room where he was hoping the band would have returned to when he heard voices in the room. He stopped suddenly in the hallway, hearing an unknown voice coming from the dressing room.

"No Sasuke, you misunderstand. I don't want the whole band. I just want you." A male voice insisted. Naruto waited for Sasuke's protest, or refusal but there was nothing, only silence. The man sighed and Naruto heard movement from in the room. "Just think about it. You are destined to be something great Sasuke, and you will not achieve it with them,"

"Naruto!" A voice from behind him yelled and Naruto jumped at the sound of his own name, spinning round guiltily. "There you are. I've been looking everywhere," Gaara smiled, jogging down the corridor with Sakura following behind him.

"Have you seen Sasuke?" Sakura asked, and Naruto was about to say no when her face brightened and Naruto realized Sasuke must have stepped out of the room behind him.

He turned, and saw that another man had exited with Sasuke, and was walking away from them down the corridor, his long black hair whipping behind him.

"Who was that?" asked Gaara nodding in his direction, and Naruto waited for Sasuke to explain, but the other man simply shook his head.

"No one," he told them, his dark eyes staring straight at Naruto.

Naruto plastered a smile on his face, turning to his band mates and holding up the little white business card for them to see.

"Well, that's not important. What is important, is this…" Naruto announced, keeping the smile on his face as Sakura squealed and threw her arms around him in happiness. Gaara and Sasuke simply stared at the card in surprise and Naruto watched Sasuke carefully, wondering what the hell was going on.

* * *

_**Gah, chapter one. Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know and I'll write more. More and more until everyone begs me to stop. If you want to hear what I think the band sounds like listen to The Libertines – they are the inspiration for this story!**_


	3. Chapter 2

**Press Release**

**The Whirlpools**

Konoha Records are proud to announce the release of the debut single from the North London based band The Whirlpools, on the 26th January.

The _What a Waster _EP features _I Get Along, _which has already been listed as a 'Hot New Single' in NME and play listed on Radio One and live favourites _Mayday _and _Death on the Stairs. _

Discovered supporting punk rock band Sound at a live show, The Whirlpools are joint front men Naruto Uzumaki (21) and Sasuke Uchiha (22) both on vocals and guitar, with Gaara Sabaku (23) on bass and Sakura Haruno (21) on drums. Formed three years ago, the bands original line up only featured schoolmates Naruto and Sakura. Gaara joined the band a year later, and was taught bass guitar by Naruto to allow him to be a part of The Whirlpools. Sasuke was the final member of the group, who became the final member of the band only six months ago.

The final line up may not have been playing together for long, but their live shows have already created a huge buzz, in particular the on stage chemistry between the two front men, whose unpredictability on stage has become a trademark of the band, earning them an incredibly loyal following of fans. Their live sets impressed so much that it saw the band signing a management deal immediately after they performed an impromptu live acoustic set for the management of Konoha records in the record companies reception.

The band lists their musical influences as ranging everything from The Clash to The Beatles to The Velvet Underground and beat poetry. This creates a truly distinctive sound to their music with songs ranging from a more mod rock influence to a more punk vibe. "We just sit down and think – what do we want to say? What are the things that have affected us? We are music for a generation who wake up and have no fucking clue where they are or what they are doing," Sasuke explains, saying that the band aren't trying to say anything big or important, they are just saying what they think. It's an honesty that's already won over many to The Whirlpool's sound.

The band will be showcasing the _What a Waster _EP with a one off London gig before heading to Brighton to write and record a full-length album, which will be released later in the year. A national tour will follow.

For interview requests and promos call: Yamamoto on 079866453

* * *

_**All songs that belong to 'The Whirlpools' are actual songs by The Libertines. I do not own them. If you are intrigued – go listen. But review first. **_


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